Millions of British people have ditched the traditional “thank you” and took the place of it with the less formal “cheers”, according to a survey.
Although the common person will say “thank you” nearly 5,000 times a year, one in three are more likely to add a “cheers” or “ta” where it’s needed to show they are fashionable.
One in twenty now say “nice one” instead, while the younger are more likely to offer a “cool” than a “thank you”.
“Merci”, “fab” and even “gracias” were also listed as common phrases to use, as “much appreciated(感激)”.
One in twenty who took part in the survey of 2,000 people by the Food Network UK for Thank You Day, which is marked on November 24, 2011, said a formal “thank you” was now not often needed in everyday conversation. More than one in ten adults said they regularly won’t say thank you if they are in a bad mood. Most people stated that saying thank you was something that their parents trained them. A huge 70 percent of those questioned will say thank you to a person’s face without even meaning it, while one fifth avoid(避免)saying it when they know they should.
It seems our friends and family get the stress of our bad manners. Half of them admit (承认) they’re not good at thanking those closest to them. Many of them explain that they don’t say thank you because their family “already know I’m grateful”.
When spoken words won’t do, it falls to a nice text to do the job for most people.
One third will still send a handwritten thank-you note---but 45 percent admit it’s been more than six months since they tried to send one.
A quarter of British people say “thank you” with food, with 23 percent cooking a meal to show their appreciation to someone. Another 15 percent bake a cake.
It follows that 85 percent of people will be angry because of not getting the gratitude (感激)
they feel they should receive.
| A．when they are in good mood |
| B．completely out of habit |
| C．when they feel truly grateful |
| D．purely out of politeness |
| A．gave up | B．used |
| C．shared | D．knew |
| A．different ways of expressing gratitude are all fashionable |
| B．people should avoid saying “thank you” nowadays |
| C．a thank-you note is still appreciated by most people |
| D．people in a bad mood never say “thank you” |
| A．Most people express their gratitude to others by buying food for them. |
| B．About fifty percent of people try not to say thank you when they should. |
| C．Most people may feel natural when they fail to receive others’ gratitude. |
| D．Many people think it unnecessary to say thanks to their family members. |
BBC News on TV, radio and online often brings you stories from across the world. Today we can hear “Life in China”. Have you got a story about life in China today? If you do, please put your stories here.
Wu Peng, Anhui |
I am a 14-year-old boy from a poor village in Anhui Province. Like many other left-behind children in China, I live with my grandparents now. My parents went to work in Shanghai several years ago. They call me twice a month to ask about my study. I really miss my parents and I hope I can go to school in Shanghai. I think every child needs parents’ love and care. |
Cindy, Shenzhen |
I like traveling and I have traveled a lot around China. During the trip, I often find that a number of Chinese often break the rules in public. For example, when I traveled in Hong Kong this year, I saw a kid eating noodles on the underground, which was against the rules. However, the kid’s mother didn’t think she did wrong. Can you believe it? Let’s improve our public manners. |
Mike, Shanghai |
These days, we’re asked to “clear our plates” when having our meals and say no to wasting. Some of us used to order more than what we could eat. That was a big waste of food. Now we need to finish the food we order. We should also stop wasting in some other ways. For example, we should turn off the lights when we leave the classroom. |
How does Wu Peng contact his parents according to the passage?
| A．By writing letters. | B．On the telephone. |
| C．On the Internet. | D．By sending text messages. |
Who thought it was not right to eat on the underground?
| A．Cindy. | B．Mike. |
| C．Wu Peng. | D．The kid’s mother |
What does Mike want people to do?
| A．Care about left-behind children |
| B．Obey the rules in public. |
| C．Improve their public manners |
| D．Stop wasting |
A rich man was riding along the road and saw an old man digging in his garden. There was a young tree lying on the ground. The rich man asked the old man.” what kind of tree are you planting there, my good man?”
“This is a fig（无花果）tree, sir.” He said.
“A fig tree?” The rich man was very surprised. “How old are you, may I ask?”
“I am ninety years old.”
“What!” shouted the rich man, “You're ninety years old. You are planting a very young tree now and it'll take years to give fruit. You certainly don' t hope to live long enough to get any fruit from this tree.” The old man smiled and said, “Tell me, sir, did you eat figs when you were a boy?”
“Sure” the man did not know why he asked this question.
The old man asked, “Who planted the fig trees?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
“You see, sir.” The old man said slowly, “our forefathers（祖先）planted trees for us to enjoy and I am doing the same for the people after me.”
The rich man was quiet, then said, “You are right, my good man. We should do some things
for the people after us. Thank you very much.” Then he rode away.
The old man was planting_ when the rich man saw him.
| A．an apple tree | B．a fig tree |
| C．a pear tree | D．a banana tree |
The old man was planting the tree____________.
| A．to get himself some fruit to eat |
| B．for the people after him |
| C．to make his garden more beautiful |
| D．just for fun |
The sentence in the last paragraph “The rich man was quiet” means_________.
| A．he was thinking about who were his forefathers |
| B．he didn't want to disturb the old man |
| C．he couldn't communicate with the old man |
| D．he understood why the old man planted the young tree |
What kind of personality does the old man has?
| A．creative | B．brave | C．wise | D．curious |
We can express the main idea of this passage “_________” in Chinese.
| A．前人栽树，后人乘凉 | B．光阴似箭，一去不返 |
| C．君子爱财，取之有道 | D．财多惹祸，树大招风 |
Once upon a time, there lived a rich man. He had a servant（(仆人). He and the servant loved wine and good food very much. Each time the rich man left his home, the servant would drink the wine and eat up all the nice food in the house. The rich man knew what his servant did, but he had never caught his servant doing that. One morning, when he left home, he said to the servant, “Here are two bottles of poison（毒药） and some nice food in the house. You must take care of them.” With these words, he went out. But the servant knew that the rich man had said was untrue. After the rich man was away from his home, he enjoyed a nice meal. Because he drank too much, he was drunk and fell to the ground. When the rich man came back, he couldn’t find his food and his wine. He became very angry. He woke the servant up. But the servant told his story very well. He said a cat had eaten up everything. He was afraid to be punished（惩罚）, so he drank the poison to kill himself.In the story, _______ liked wine and good food very much.
| A．the rich man | B．the servant |
| C．both A and B | D．neither A and B |
The rich man knew that it was _______ that drank the wine and ate up all the nice food.
| A．the cat | B．himself |
| C．nobody | D．the servant |
The rich told the servant that there was poison in the two bottles, because ________.
| A．there was in fact poison in the bottles |
| B．did not want the servant to drink his wine |
| C．he wanted to kill the cat |
| D．he wanted to kill the servant |
In fact, _______ ate all the nice food and drank the wine.
| A．the servant | B．cat |
| C．the rich man | D．nobody |
From the story, we know that the servant is very _______.
| A．lazy | B．bad | C．clever | D．Kind |
Television is good. You'd like to watch it all day and all night. But too much TV is a very bad thing. Scientists found that kids who watch too much TV may have more trouble learning to read. They can't focus on their work.
Kids learn language skills best by reading, talking and playing with others. If they spend too much time watching TV, they'll have less time for those things. Watching too much TV is bad for people's health. People don't move much while watching TV. What's more, they may eat a lot of food while watching. This can make them fat. We call these people "couch potatoes".
Fighting on TV is a big problem for kids. Young people are good at following. Scientists have found that those who watch a lot of fighting shows are more likely to fight.Scientists say if kids watch too much TV, they will __.
| A．learn language skills more easily |
| B．be healthier |
| C．find it hard to learn to read |
| D．eat less food |
Kids learn language skills best by__.
| A．reading | B．talking |
| C．playing with others | D．all of the above |
What will people do when they are watching TV?
| A．Eat a lot of food. |
| B．Have more time for reading. |
| C．Move to keep healthy. |
| D．Focus on their work. |
Which of the following is true?
| A．An American child will watch 12,000 fighting acts on TV a year. |
| B．It's good for kids to learn from fighting acts on TV. |
| C．Too much TV is good for people's health. |
| D．It's easy for kids who watch a lot of fighting shows to fight. |
"Couch potatoes" are people who watch too much TV and become_____.
| A．thin | B．healthy |
| C．fat | D．Strong |
回答问题 阅读短文，然后很据短文内容，简要回答下列问题。
Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it.
Man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man could move to another place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It's bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight against pollution. They stop people from burning coal(煤) in houses and factories, and from putting dirty smoke into the air. Pollution by SO2 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. It is sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.
The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean.
Is our life much easier than it was hundreds of years ago ?
________________________________________________________.
Why was the pollution not serious many years ago?
________________________________________________________.
What kinds of pollution are mentioned in the passage?
________________________________________________________.
How do they fight against pollution in many countries?
________________________________________________________.
What is the passage mainly about?
_________________________________________________________.
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